Use an encyclopedia as a reference for your report. With Wikipedia, these books are basically worthless.

Use an encyclopedia as a reference for your report. With Wikipedia, these books are basically worthless.

Photo: David Muir / Getty Images

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Use a calculator. Yes, these still exist but most kids will do the math on a computer or their phone.

Use a calculator. Yes, these still exist but most kids will do the math on a computer or their phone.

Photo: Andrew Rich / Getty Images/Vetta

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Type up a report on a typewriter.

Type up a report on a typewriter.

Photo: Darrin Klimek / Getty Images

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Dial a number on a rotary phone.

Dial a number on a rotary phone.

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Play in the street. Yes, kids in the suburbs still play games of tag and kick ball in the street, but definitely not as freely as they did back in the day.

Play in the street. Yes, kids in the suburbs still play games of tag and kick ball in the street, but definitely not as freely as they did back in the day.

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Drink water from a garden hose. Lead, BPA...the list of harmful chemicals in these hoses goes on and on.

Drink water from a garden hose. Lead, BPA...the list of harmful chemicals in these hoses goes on and on.

Photo: KidStock / Getty Images/Blend Images

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Take a Scantron test. Yes, the fill-in-the-bubbles tests that can only be taken with a No. 2 pencil still exist but more and more schools are having kids take tests on computers.

Take a Scantron test. Yes, the fill-in-the-bubbles tests that can only be taken with a No. 2 pencil still exist but more and more schools are having kids take tests on computers.

Photo: Ryan Balderas / Getty Images

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See a movie at a drive-in. There are a few left, but with land values increasing most have been sold off to developers.

See a movie at a drive-in. There are a few left, but with land values increasing most have been sold off to developers.

Photo: Arthur Tilley / Getty Images

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Take photos with a film camera.

Take photos with a film camera.

Photo: Cavan Images / Getty Images

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Deliver a newspaper from a bicycle. Paper routes are now commonly an adult job and delivered by car.

Deliver a newspaper from a bicycle. Paper routes are now commonly an adult job and delivered by car.

Photo: FPG / Getty Images

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Fall asleep in the trunk of a station wagon. We support the strict seat-belt laws but they make it tough for kids to recline and doze off in the car.

Fall asleep in the trunk of a station wagon. We support the strict seat-belt laws but they make it tough for kids to recline and doze off in the car.

Photo: Steve Mason / Getty Images

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Write on a chalkboard. Wipe boards and digital smart boards are now the norm.

Write on a chalkboard. Wipe boards and digital smart boards are now the norm.

Photo: FPG / Getty Images

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Roam the neighborhood with a pack of wild kids. Today's kids generally have less freedom.

Roam the neighborhood with a pack of wild kids. Today's kids generally have less freedom.

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Ride a bike without a helmet and do other dangerous things on your bike. (Note: We're glad kids are now wearing helmets. This is a good step forward.)

Ride a bike without a helmet and do other dangerous things on your bike. (Note: We're glad kids are now wearing helmets. This is a good step forward.)

Photo: Preappy / Getty Images/Flickr RF

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Play darts in the basement. Parents these days usually buy 'safer' magnetic boards for their kids although games such as darts are a lot less popular in general because children prefer video games.

Play darts in the basement. Parents these days usually buy 'safer' magnetic boards for their kids although games such as darts are a lot less popular in general because children prefer video games.

Photo: Catherine Ledner / Getty Images

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Listen to music on a record player. And we should probably add, listen to music on a cassette tape.

Listen to music on a record player. And we should probably add, listen to music on a cassette tape.

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Play on dangerous playground equipment. We don't miss the broken legs and arms but the old-school equipment was so much fun.

Play on dangerous playground equipment. We don't miss the broken legs and arms but the old-school equipment was so much fun.

Photo: Nick David / Getty Images

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Things you did as a kid that your kids will never do

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You rode around the neighborhood on your bike with a pack of kids. Not an adult in sight. No cell phone in your pocket. If you needed to call Mom, you found a pay phone or hopped into a friend’s house and dialed on a rotary phone.

After a whirl around the neighborhood, a game of kickball in the street and a climb up your neighbor’s tree, you took a swig from the lead-laced hose in your front yard and ran into the house where your entire family sat around the table for dinner.

Those were the good old days? The freedom and independence kids enjoyed were certainly exceptional. The time spent outside running around was another huge plus. There were downsides. Kids didn’t wear bike helmets or seat belts. We didn’t know about the lead in the hoses (though we all drank from them and seemed to turn out OK).

No matter, today’s kids are growing up in a different world filled with Minecraft, text messages and helicopter parents. There are many things from our bygone childhoods—good and bad—that they will never experience. Take a look at some of these things in the slide show above and please add to the list in the comments.